Chidori's Cry and Its Fatal Flaw

The blue arcs in his palm gradually subsided.

The sound of a thousand birds crying in unison faded as well.

Uesugi Sasuke panted heavily, his arm slightly numb from the gathering of chakra.

Unlike the weakness of being drained in an instant by the Great Fireball, Chidori's chakra consumption was within what he could endure.

This was a technique he could use as a regular weapon.

Excitement shone in his eyes.

Three consecutive battles had all ended in his victory, but each had been far too messy.

He had won without honor.

Every time, he had relied on traps and sneak attacks, like a rat hiding in the shadows.

What he needed was the ability to crush his enemies head-on with overwhelming power.

Chidori was the beginning of that power.

He had to master it as soon as possible.

Sasuke looked around, finally fixing his gaze on a massive rock more than twice a man's height a short distance away.

I'll use that to test the new technique's power.

He was about to form hand seals when a line of cold red text suddenly appeared on the system panel.

[Warning: Chidori is an A-rank Assassination Technique. Its core involves using Lightning Release chakra to stimulate the body and execute an ultra-high-speed straight-line thrust.]

[Without corresponding dynamic vision support, the user will be unable to perceive changes along the thrust's path, much less respond to an enemy's counterattack.]

[Risk level: Extremely high. Host, please use with caution.]

Sasuke froze.

I won't be able to see an enemy's counterattack?

He frowned.

The stream of information about Chidori flashed through his mind again, and he did indeed notice some details he had overlooked.

This technique seemed intended to be used in conjunction with a certain dōjutsu.

The Sharingan.

Unlocking the Sharingan required a full 1,000 points.

That meant he would have to hunt down seven more demons.

Too slow.

Sasuke's gaze turned cold.

He would not stop because of a single warning.

As long as I'm fast enough to pierce the enemy's heart before he can react, won't there be no need to deal with a counterattack?

The power is right here in my hands. There's no reason not to use it.

He hesitated no longer, his hands rapidly forming seals.

Ox-Hare-Monkey.

The seal sequence was far simpler than the Great Fireball's.

He gathered chakra into his right hand, compressing it intensely and applying transformations in shape and nature.

"Chidori!"

Crackle-!

Lightning far more dazzling than before erupted from his palm.

This time, it was no longer a few faint arcs.

Instead, it was a visible, raging ball of blue lightning.

The smell of ozone filled the air.

The piercing cries seemed ready to puncture his eardrums.

Sasuke lowered his body into a thrusting stance, his eyes locked firmly on the massive rock.

He could feel the muscles in his right arm trembling at an astonishing frequency under the stimulation of Lightning Release chakra, brimming with explosive power.

Now!

He pushed off hard.

Bang!

A shallow crater instantly burst open in the ground.

His body became a streak of blue lightning, shooting toward the rock.

Too fast.

He was moving faster than even he had expected.

The scenery before his eyes raced backward, finally turning into a blur of colors.

He could not see the path ahead at all.

His so-called target lock had become a joke.

He could only rely on his body's instincts to maintain his straight-line charge.

The system's warning had been correct.

The instant he activated Chidori, he had become blind.

A living target that could only charge forward.

But he could no longer stop.

With his current control over his body, he could not handle this power at all.

Boom!!!

His right hand struck the massive rock dead-on.

There was not the slightest resistance.

Before the raging Lightning Release chakra, the hard rock was as fragile as tofu.

It was instantly pierced and shattered, sending fragments flying in every direction.

Yet Sasuke's body continued charging forward, carried by tremendous momentum.

And behind the shattered rock stood a steep cliff face.

"Oh no!"

Sasuke's heart lurched.

He forcibly twisted his body, trying to change direction, but he could not do it at all.

He could only watch helplessly as he hurtled toward the cliff face.

At the last possible moment, he forced the chakra that had yet to fully dissipate into the soles of his feet.

Bang!

He stamped the ground with all his strength, forcibly halting his charge.

The tremendous recoil sent him tumbling forward several times in a sorry heap before he barely managed to stop.

He knelt on one knee, panting violently.

Waves of tearing pain came from the muscles of his right arm, and his palm was charred black, still trailing wisps of smoke.

He raised his head and looked at the cliff face just inches away, cold sweat breaking out across his back.

Had he been half a second slower, he would probably have been a pile of mangled flesh by now.

He turned back to look at the pile of shattered rock.

Its power was beyond reproach.

But its flaw was just as deadly.

This was not a technique for fighting at all.

It was a technique for suicide.

Sasuke slammed a fist into the ground, his eyes filled with frustration and unwillingness to accept it.

He possessed immense power, yet could not use it.

That sense of helplessness nearly drove him mad.

He needed the Sharingan.

Desperately.